Exhibitions | Postcards From Brazil

November 4th to 9th 2022

 Postcards from Brazil is a collective photo exhibition with a diverse selection of images of Brazil with works by Malu Mesquita, Paulo Henrique Cruz, Stefania Carrilho Tomé, Bernardo Borges e Vinícius Garcia. The exhibition encompasses a mix and match of pieces - some to be showcased for the first time - that together form a panorama of the manifold country that is Brazil. Urban and natural landscapes, cities' landmarks and architecture, intimate portraits of metropoles and abandoned sites will be assembled in 40 prints on paper and fabric.

“Postcards From Brazil” is curated by Renato Negrão, a Brazilian photographer whose main mission is to bring together groups of photographers to travel the world showing their photographs on the multiple sides and perspectives of such a rich and continental country as Brazil. In 2022, Negrão curated two shows under this concept, one in Barcelona, Spain, and another one in Lagos, Nigeria.

The curator Renato Negrão alongside photographers Malu Mesquita, Vinicius Garcia and Stefania Carrilho Tomé were present during the show run. They toured the visitors through the exhibition and had special conversations open to everyone who might be interested in photography and the artists’ creative processes. It was be a great opportunity to connect photographers from Toronto and São Paulo as well as serving those in Toronto who are enthusiastic about arts and culture.

About the Exhibition

Brazil is a country of continental dimensions and a wide variety of natural and cultural richnesses, which poses a great challenge to any art show attempting to convey representations as encompassing as possible of that nation. Using the concept of “postcards”, Negrão and his collective chose the perspective of portraying representative landmarks of Brazil, adding up some experimentation to it.

Produced during lockdown times in São Paulo, the photographs of Malu Mesquita create deeper layers to depict the metropolis she lives in by juxtaposing objects and images as the city landscape dissolves into shapes and colours. On the opposite end, Vinicius Garcia portrays the natural beauties of Brazil - its vast seashore, the city of Rio de Janeiro, the Pantanal, the Iguazu falls - through attentive and technical eyes. They would perfectly fit in postcards to be mailed to one’s family and friends when visiting Brazil.

Taking a more architectural approach, Bernardo Borges’s photos animate abandoned sites and buildings whereas Paulo Henrique Cruz blends in his artwork ballerinas and the landmarks of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Lucio Costa. The huge postcards of Malu Mesquita printed on fabric lead us in the same direction, portraying monuments and landmarks of São Paulo.

“Postcards From Brazil” presents photographs printed on fine art paper of different dimensions plus a site-specific installation of twelve images printed on fabric created by the São Paulo-based photographer Malu Mesquita. The intention is to juxtapose the rigour of metropolitan concrete to the flexibility of cloth texture.

Additionally, a video will be screened introducing the arts educational workshops led by Renato Negrão in unserved communities in the outskirts of São Paulo. The program named “Prosa Em Rede” was awarded with a special grant from the city of São Paulo designed for multimedia experiments. The students selected for the workshops receive scholarships in order to learn the basic tools of photography so that they can get job opportunities as photographers for social events, fashion editorials and e-commerce. The video is a short documentary that gives voice to the student's experiences with the workshops.

About the Photographers

Malu Mesquita is a visual artist whose work is mostly focused on photography. With a degree in marketing, since 2015 she has been dedicated to more intimate and authoral projects. Her work has been seen in numerous exhibitions in Brazil and abroad. She published the book "#NoMesmoMuro - do Instagram ao Fotolivro” (#OnTheSameWall - From Instagram to Photobook) in 2017. Mesquita’s photographs pivot on urban environments and metropoles, establishing a dialogue with other public art media such as performance, urban intervention and graffiti.  

For Vinicius Garcia, photography is a means to get a deeper experience of the places he visits. Accompanied by his camera, he travels through sites of rare beauty and draws on a refined technique to create images that do justice to the wonders of our planet Earth. Since he started photographing, at the age of 15, he has built a portfolio with a wide variety of interests, from images of flora and fauna to natural landscapes like beaches, mountains, deserts as well as cities. In 2020 he published the book "Africa" and participated in exhibitions in Barcelona and São Paulo.

Graduated in graphic design, with more than 10 years of experience working for a large publishing house in São Paulo, Bernardo Borges’s main interest falls on the theme of abandoned sites. Borges has been travelling through Brazil in order to map and catalogue ruined and empty buildings. He released two books, "Abandoned ones 1" and "Abandoned ones 2", with images of sites like the former Brahma beer factory in São Paulo. As a graphic designer, Borges has been commissioned to create the layout for photography books. He is currently based in Canada.

A photographer based in Brasilia for more than a decade, Paulo Henrique Cruz has been travelling Brazil to build a photographic collection on the country’s cultural treasures. He translates the Brazilian cultural wealth into his images - popular festivals, religious ceremonies, native peoples and whatever stands out to his eyes. His photographs reflect Brazil, a country that has in its genesis the mix of customs from different countries. In Paulo’s images, Brazil is depicted as a rich and happy country, a source of pride that enchants the public wherever they go.

Stefania Carrilho Tomé’s passion for photography started in 1998, while living in London, England. Since then, she has been capturing moments of her life experiences in each country that she has lived including Brazil, Uruguay, Dominican Republic and Canada. She is passionate about photography, painting, dance, and anything else that allows her to express her artistic skills. Born in Bahia and raised in São Paulo, she currently resides in Toronto. She is very engaged within the Brazilian community and works promoting trade between Brazil and Canada.